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W. W. UNDERHILL. Accountant's or Bookkeepers Des-k.

No. 232,784. Patented Sept. 28,1880.

* NTTED' STATES PATENT OFFI E.

WILLIAM W. UNDERHILL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 232,784, dated September 28, 1880. Application filed September 19, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. UNDER HILL, of Brooklyn, in Kings county, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Accountants or Bookkeepers Desks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in the combination, with a receptacle for books provided with fixed Vertical partitions for supporting the books independently ofeach other, of carriages for conveying the books in and out of said receptacle, tracks or ways extending horizont-allyfrom the receptacle, forming guides for the movement of the carriages, and serving as a fixed support on which the side covers of the books can be laid and sustained in a convenient position for use.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective view ot a desk embodying my improvements, and Fig. 2 represents a transverse section through one of the carriages for supporting the books.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Adesignates areceptacle for books B, shown as divided, by fixed vertical partitions, into a series of compartments, each of a proper size to hold and support a single book independently of the others. These compartments have openings at the front or one side to permitthe Withdrawal of books. Each of the said books is represented as supported on its back upon a small carriage, G, which is preferably 110llowed or made concave upon its upper side, so as to fit the round or convex back of a book. The said carriages are provided at their ends with upwardly-extending pieces a, adapted to bear upon the ends of a book to prevent its becoming displaced on the carriage, and such pieces may bear upon them letters to designate the books, as clearly represented in Fig. 1.

D designates tracks or ways (here shown as consisting of surfaces extending from the bottom of the compartments in the receptacle A) for supporting the carriages 0, and partitions or ribs D, to guide the carriages in their movement.

The partitions or ribs D form a fixed support for the side covers and leaves of the books, supporting them in convenient position for writing when drawn from their compartments and opened, as clearly represented by the book upon the carriage marked L in Fig. 1.

To support the outside book at each side of the receptacle I have shown wings or shelves D extending horizontally at each side of the desk level with the tops of the partitions D.

In order to facilitate the insertion and removal of the carriages G into and from the compartments, I have represented them as supported on wheels or rollers b, which in this example of my invention are secured to the carriages. In lieu of this, however, rollers might be supported in fixed hearings in the tracks or ways D and the bottoms of the carriages made plain.

If desirable, the carriages 0 might be provided with hinged side pieces adapted to be closed against the covers of the books when the latter are shut, and in such case the parti- Lions forming the compartments in the receptacle A might be dispensed with.

By my invention Ifurnish a desk for heavy account-books, such as bank-books, which occupies little space and is so constructed that any one of the books may be brought into a position for writin g thereon without lifting the same or dragging it out of its place and wearing out or marring the binding, and by which the books are well supported while open.

What I claim as my invention,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- The combination, with a receptacle for books provided with fixed vertical partitions for supporting the books independently of each other, of carriages for conveying the books in and out of said receptacle, and tracks or ways extending horizontally from the openings of the com partments, forming guides for the movement of the carriages and serving as a fixed support on which the side covers of the books can be laid and sustained in a convenient position for use, substantially as specified.

W. W. UNDERHILL.

Witnesses FREDK. HAYNES, E. 1 J EssUP. 

